Annual Leave and Its Role in Business Success
Published: 22/11/2021
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This blog article addresses the modern corporate world's approach to annual leave. We want to convey the message that a responsible approach to employee time off will benefit their well-being and your organisation as a whole.
When we think of a dedicated employee, we often envision someone who works relentlessly to reach business goals. They give the company more than what’s asked of them—including time. Working longer hours or not taking time off is seen as a sign of dedication—and, therefore, an admirable trait.
This mindset is wrong. In this blog, we will explain why it can be very damaging to your business.
In the UK, it’s a law that every employee, full-time or part-time, is entitled to a minimum of 28 paid days of annual leave. However, the statistics show that a large percentage of workers do not use it. Depending on their circumstances and policies, companies can grant their staff more days of paid leave, but not less.
However, a study from the Trades Union Congress (TUC) has shown that 2.2 million employees do not receive their holiday entitlement. Reasons vary from malice on the employer’s side to staff being so overwhelmed with the workload they don’t feel they can fit time off in.
Even if there was no legal requirement to provide your staff with sufficient paid time off and if you’re innocent of foul play, it’s still crucial to ensure your employees rest. Let’s talk about why it matters and how to achieve it.
Burnouts have long since been normalised, and this is wrong. They lead to lower productivity and overall dissatisfaction with the job, which are likely to impact your business and office culture negatively.
The most common causes of burnout are frequent overtime and employees’ refusal to take time off. While you’re legally allowed to force your staff to go on annual leave (with a sufficient notice period), fighting overtime is trickier. First, it’s difficult to tell whether it’s a frequent or one-off occurrence. Addressing it with adequate evidence is another issue.
To solve them both simultaneously, we suggest adopting a digital solution. Specifically, it should have both a holiday management system and employee time tracking features. This will allow you to identify unhealthy overtime patterns and make it easier to work through them.
Fatigue, both mental and physical, makes staff more prone to accidents. This is especially true in workplaces that require a lot of manual work, such as construction. For office-bound jobs, more regular opportunities to rest could reduce stress. Overworked employees make business mistakes and cause financial losses.
Additionally, good holiday management is known to reduce the number of days of sick leave staff take. It’s a common issue for employees to lie about feeling unwell to get a day off. A healthy approach and system to booking time off will no longer require them to lie.
A centralised holiday management platform can benefit your entire team. Managers with a full view of the future schedule will easily approve or reject holiday requests. Additionally, it will enable them to manage the risk of being understaffed better.
For employees, such visibility means optimising their workflows in advance. A system that keeps the whole organisation in the loop about who is off and when can drive massive productivity improvements.
Employee well-being is critical because employees are human. Naturally, this helps to keep your staff healthy and happy and minimises staff turnover. But how does it translate into improving the business's performance?
It’s essential that employees know their well-being is in your best interests. Approach them from the standpoint of empathy and show them you prioritise them as individuals over the jobs they are tasked to do. Not only will this build trust over time, but it will also make your employees know they matter to you.
Staff who feel valued and appreciated tend to work harder. Also, aim to stay transparent with your team across all aspects of business, including holiday schedules. Consider a solution like Timesheet Portal to create a centralised view over annual leave that’s accessible for everyone.
Routine is the biggest enemy of inspiration. It tends to creep even on people in highly creative industries. Lack of inspiration prevents staff from seeking new ways to address challenges and spot new opportunities.
Inspiration drives innovation and, therefore, the evolution of your business. Hence, an uninspired team will be holding your growth back. Time off gives them a chance to unwind and return with a fresh mind, ready to take on tasks with enthusiasm and an open mind.
As an employer, you also benefit from being hands-on regarding staff holidays. By having a designated system in place, you always have a complete picture when dealing with incoming annual leave requests It will also aid you in figuring out who needs a gentle push towards claiming their minimum entitlement.
Such visibility allows you to allocate staff and resources ahead of time, minimising any inconveniences that might occur due to staff absences on holiday. It is convenient during holiday seasons, such as winter festivities or summer breaks, when most of your team will want to take time off.
It’s arguable. Although this approach is trending within big Silicon Valley companies, we can now see it being adopted by smaller corporations, too. There’s a clear appeal to this system for both employees and employers. However, it doesn’t always work as well in practice as it does in theory.
The truth is that businesses operate in different ways, have different structures and address different audiences. While it’s an optimal solution to some, it might not be anywhere near as beneficial to others. Not every company’s operational structure can sustain such an approach. Additionally, sometimes, the office culture gets in the way of the initiative. In that scenario, your staff might start competing based on who takes less time off, creating an unhealthy rivalry and damaging their performance.
Although businesses are legally obliged to give employees at least 28 paid days of annual leave, statistics show many people do not claim their holiday entitlement. The popular opinion that it shows dedication and contributes to productivity is wrong—it’s the opposite.
Not taking time off results in poorer performance, fatigue, lack of inspiration, and poorer communication. All these factors directly affect team morale and, therefore, your business. The solution is to ditch the mindset that your employees are dedicated when they work overtime or take no time off. Instead, nurture the culture of a healthy mindset regarding annual leave.
It’s time to eliminate the norms that harm both people and businesses. Contact us, and we will work towards making the corporate world better together.